


thanks for shopping!

by shimcko



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Help, M/M, Meet-Cute, One-Shot, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, happy crimmus, its crimmus, keith works at a cvs which i find to be hilarious, klance, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21766537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shimcko/pseuds/shimcko
Summary: keith is suffering alone during his shift at cvs on christmas day. a sympathetic customer decides to keep him company.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Klance - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 162





	thanks for shopping!

**Author's Note:**

> the dentist joke is a reference to that one rudolph cartoon where the lil elf wanted to be a dentist okay thanks enjoy—

no one told keith when he applied to his town’s cvs over the summer that cvs was one of the very few establishments that would stay open on christmas day. 

from a business standpoint, keith didn’t even get it. they’re averaging around two customers an hour, if it’s even that many, so, in a way, this place is losing money forcing him and his coworkers into coming into work today. 

now, from a personal standpoint, keith was fuming. 

even if the only company he had in his cramped, overpriced apartment was his dog, keith would much rather be covered in blankets on his couch with kosmo than standing behind a counter waiting for some christmas shmuck to decide what brand of cranberry sauce he wants to bring home to his family, because they’re still waiting to carve into the turkey. 

or, chicken, or ham, or whatever people ate today.

(keith’s running on a protein bar and some gatorade.) 

didn’t his managers figure that at least someone amongst the staff had a wife? kids? or was getting a few extra sales on eggnog more important than a day that comes once a year?

at least keith was getting out somewhat early. eight o’clock sounded a lot more satisfying than midnight, so keith was practically counting every single second that passed by on the analog clock above the store’s exit. 

but, if you know anything about betting on time, you’d know that time is like that guy that cuts you in a line you’d been standing in for an hour. or, like that lady who flags down your waiter when you haven’t gotten your food yet. or that guy that gets spills their coffee on you on the subway minutes before that big interview without even mumbling an apology. 

it does not care about you. 

and the more you bet on it, the less it seems to. 

keith rolls his head back and groans upon realizing it hasn’t even been seven minutes since the last time he checked the time, and his posture corrects – somewhat – in time for his eyes land on a pair of tan, freckled hands grabbing items from the basket looped over his forearm. without acknowledgement, keith takes the first item and rings it up with his pricing gun. it was some cheesy headband with two candy-canes attached by a pair of springs. the next thing was a packet of streamers in red, green and gold. then came some tabletop decorations, a small santa statue, one with reindeer, one with happy little elves holding hands. 

keith didn’t even know he was grimacing until the customer points it with a snarky, “what have you got against aspiring dentists?” 

for the first time within their encounter keith looks up, and he finds a pair of ocean eyes and an amused smirk. caramel skin, rich, auburn hair, and freckles covering just about everywhere keith looked. he definitely wasn’t from anywhere around here, he just didn’t look like he belonged. 

he looked too… pretty. 

he didn’t know he was staring either. keith coughs and clears his throat. 

“i don’t have anything against them– this.” keith waves around the small sculpture for good measure, forcing a brief smile just for the sake of hospitality, and letting it fall haphazardly into the plastic bag beside him. the gesture earns him a laugh from freckles. 

that was pretty, too. 

freckles places the last few items onto the counter and slides the basket atop a stack of them that sits beside checkout, and he pulls the backpack he wears around his torso to start digging for his wallet. “well, you’ve obviously got somethin’ against your boss. i would’ve protested if i was you. or went on strike! or done a, uh, what are those things called? when you and your coworkers just walk out?” 

“a walk out?” keith replies in a deadpan. he hates the way the corners of his lips betray him. he’s smiling and trying his hardest not to laugh as his fingers type away at his keypad to give freckles a discount on the cartons of eggnog he wanted … and, on everything else he could give him a discount on. retail flirting at its finest. 

“yeah! a w– hey, stop laughing at me!” freckles whines, his voice shrill but laced with that same pretty laughter. “whatever, how much do i owe you? and how much would you say your boss owes you for keeping you from your family?” he asks with a cock of his brow.

keith finishes bagging the last of his items and slides his hands into the pockets of his apron once he’s set them on the counter. “fifteen-twenty-seven, and nothing, i guess. i don’t actually have anyone at home for me.” keith punctuates the statement with a shrug of his shoulders, but freckles makes it seem like he’d just confessed to having a terminal illness. 

his mouth hangs open and those ocean eyes of his are wide, “you don’t have anyone? really? on christmas?” he asks keith sounding baffled, that surprised expression turning into something more sympathetic as he holds out a twenty. keith rubs at the back of his neck with one hand and accepts the money with the other. his brows furrow. he guessed his reality was more sad than it sounded in his head. 

“i have my dog. does that count?” keith tries with a rigid sounding chuckle. he rings up freckles and hands him his change and leans against the register. 

keith keeps in mind that this guy was, from a business standpoint, completely done with him. he’d given him his change, receipt, and left all his goods out for him to take, he could leave now. 

from a personal standpoint, this guy wasn’t. 

he wanted to keep talking. 

“you said you didn’t have anyone! pets count. you had me worried,” freckles says, looking relieved. 

what kind of person worries about strangers these days? 

“but, i guess i’m sort’ve in the same boat? it’s my first christmas away from my family. i’m studying here next semester. i touched down last week from cuba, but, my ma and i agreed that it would be easier for me to get used to this place if i didn’t come back after, like, five days.” 

apparently keith does now. knowing that this practical ray of sunshine is going home alone makes keith’s chest feel tight. 

it then makes him confused. his brows scrunch and his head tilts to the side. “so, wait, what’s all this stuff for, then?” keith asks him, gesturing to the bags full of what looked to be party supplies. freckles looks sheepish, then, a shade of red painting his tanned cheeks. 

cute. 

“well, i’m going to get on a skype call with my family back home and a bunch of my other cousins when my mom gets off of work. i just wanted it to look all festive in the background so they don’t think i’m all lonely.” 

“well, are you?” 

“am i what?” 

“are you lonely?” 

keith looks surprised by himself for saying it. he’s quick to try and cover his tracks, shaking his head and swatting at the air, “i’m– i’m sorry, forget i said that, that’s way too nosey,” he stammers, while freckles, on the other hand, looks like it’s the first time he’s actually thinking about the question. he ignores keith’s blubbered attempts at an apology and nods his head. 

“i guess so? i haven’t really made friends here yet, but, i’ve got my family, so, y’know. i think i’ll be alright.” he replies with a small shrug, and his hands idly drumming on the counter. it takes keith by surprise that someone like him hasn’t charmed anyone into being his friend yet because, to be honest, all this guy needed to be was smile to get a person hooked. 

or, maybe that was just keith. 

keith, who still feels like he’ll die when his professors force him to present. keith, who would rather sink into a whole in the floor than go to a mixer. keith, who’s scared off his last batch of friends with one little fight. 

… that ended with one little broken nose. that was beside the point. 

“me neither. i hope the call is fun, and that you have a good night, and all that,” he’s rubbing at the back of neck again, because something in his stomach is telling him that this encounter is coming to an end and that he should do something about it; but no words are coming out. 

he still hasn’t taken his bags yet. 

“really?”

why hasn’t he taken his bags yet?

“you’re way too cute to not have any friends!” 

oh. 

keith wants him to never take his bags. 

freckles looks proud of himself for being so forward, a smirk curled up onto his lips while keith, on the other hand, struggles to remember how to speak. how the hell was he supposed to respond to something like that? red starts to paint his cheeks and the tips of his ears and the back of his neck and as soon as he feels like he’s got a good enough comeback, freckles is holding up a finger to keith, “just a second.”

keith checks out something that hasn’t got a price tag when he walks away. 

he busies himself with — pretending to — count the money in the register while he waits for his customer to return, and the sound of glass hitting the counter brings keith back to reality. a bottle of apple cider and a pack of plastic champagne flutes. freckles looks even more proud of himself, that smirk growing into a full fleshed grin. “can i buy this stuff, too?” 

keith is confused by the request but can’t help but smile back. it was just impossible not to. he rings the items up and, again, punches in a few coupon codes he knows off the back of his hand. “seven-fifty.” he bags them up, accepts the ten dollar bill, and hands the change back to his customer. keith cocks a curious brow. 

“just remembered it, or something?” he asks, only for freckles to reach forward and take the items back out. he rips open the package of flutes with his nails and begins to rip at the white foil around the top of the bottle of apple cider. “just thought of getting it, actually.” 

“the name’s lance, by the way.” 

keith has never seen someone open a bottle of cider with car keys, but he supposed there was a first time for anything. 

“hi, lance. what, uh… are you doing?” 

freckles, or lance, pours a serving into two glasses, and shoves the rest that had come in the bag away with the rest of his untouched purchases; those go on the ground to leave the counter empty. lance is hopping up on the counter then, like it was a counter in his own kitchen, and he pats the spot next to him. 

“i’m making a friend.” 

keith’s heart skips a beat. 

well, the only car in the customer lot was lance’s, and if anyone was on the roads right now, keith doubts they’re rushing over for their 5/$5 deal on boxes of candy canes. plus, if his manager was doing what he always did on slow days, meaning binging netflix in his office while barely even glancing at the store cameras, keith should be fine. he could get away with this. 

and for a cute guy with a laugh like summer and a smile like spring, keith would definitely get away with this. 

so, he walks around the counter and takes a seat next to lance. keith accepts the plastic glass of cider with a soft chuckle and hits it gently against lance’s, a silent ‘cheers’ before bringing the brim of the cup to his lips. 

“knew you looked at my ass, by the way.” 

keith nearly chokes. lance’s laughter is heard from aisle fifteen.

**Author's Note:**

> you made it!! thanks for reading, haven't written one of these in a while. :') kudos and comments are more than appreciated. happy holidays! <3


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